Author
Topic: Alone (Read 1180 times)

T?Riad ran to the branches of the huge fallen tree as fast as he could. He didn?t want to get caught in the fire or the wrath of the invaders. The island was burning up and he didn?t know where his friends were. He decided that he would stay hidden in the large branches and wait for the beasts to leave.

He hoped that his companions found safety from the attack. It would be foolish for him to go out and look for them at this point as it would almost assuredly get him killed. As he crouched into the branches and leaves to conceal himself he felt a burning sting in his arm. He looked over to see a bolt embedded in his flesh. He was still bleeding but not badly. He knew that once he pulled the bolt out that situation would change. He figured that the burning of the wound was caused by a poison of some kind. Hopefully it would run its? course and be done soon.

He watched on at the ensuing chaos knowing that he was powerless to stop it. Then he wondered if he had the chance would he stop it? The lizard people had been kind to him and Scale did protect him on more than one occasion. He reached into his pouch and pulled out the large crocodile tooth the elder had given him. He recalled the dream-vision that he had with the great city and the meeting with Klargaireus. He wondered if the priest was here now destroying these folk. He was of too even a mind to vow revenge on these creatures. However, he would not grant them exception either. T?Riad was a soldier of universal justice. As these beasts gave no mercy so shall they receive none from him.

T?Riad watched on as the village went up in flames and the cries of brutal murder filled the smoky air.

T'Riad wanted to speculate the devastation around him. He didn't have much hope in any surviving the terrible onslaught. He knew that despite life and death being part of the great universal balance that he should not be distraught if his friends should have perished. However, he had come to regard them as his new family and did not want to see them extinguished so soon and at the hands of the beasts.

As T'Riad meditated he began to feel his fatigue. He hadn't slept a full night and the recent events had his mind in a spin. He had to find his way to the gate. He had to see if his companions were alive. He had to...had to...rest.

Before he felt comfortable enough to to fall way into a slumber he listened hard to hear if the attackers had left the island yet.

T?Riad knew he had to stay focused?concentrate on the here and now. He had spent hours upon hours in deep meditation at the monastery. It allowed him be mindful of the present. Also, it heightened his other senses beyond that of sight. Right now it would be his ears that would alarm him to any approaching danger. Through his years of meditation he was able to harness any fears he had and allow them to pass through him. If he was to give in to any fear it would be his doom.

His situation was bleak he thought. He was stuck on an island in flames and with foul beasts. The island was surrounded by huge water lizards, and he had no boat to cross the water. He didn?t know if his friends were alive, dead, or imprisoned. Last he knew a great floating boat was overlooking the island and his sight was limited by a thick mist. In addition to that, he was injured and poisoned. If he should be able to leave the island he then had nearly a day?s journey southwest to a magical gate that he wasn?t sure how to find. In addition to that, he was entirely alone. He was alone as he?d ever been.

T?Riad closed his eyes and began to empty his mind of the current situation. He had to let his fear pass over him. He had to find his balance. He could hear the crackling of the flames coming from the island. He could hear the beasts beyond finishing off their slaughter. He imagined himself in the comfort of his monastery with his brothers and sisters. He didn?t wish that he was there now because it would not serve him to wish for things that could not be. Instead he was thinking back upon his past so that they may help to guide his future.

He began to breathe deeply. He concentrated on the air entering and exiting his lungs. The smell of burning wood reminded him of the winters in Rieuwood Forest. It was a joyful scent to him but nevertheless, it was born of terror. He continued to listen to the activity of the foulings and their savagery.

T?Riad could see odd shapes in the darkness of his closed eyes. They were ghostly, swirling waves that undulated all about. They changed color and depth in their dance. T?Riad would always try to find symbolism and meaning in the odd phantoms. His current conclusion was that he was looking at the soul of Xen?Chi. It was here, withdrawn in his mind, that felt the true spirit of the balance in the universe, the very embodiment of Xen?Chi.

The universe was not accidental. It would disguise it?s designs as mere coincidence. T?Riad felt that there was reasoning to his current predicament. At last he discovered that this was the next challenge to be conquered.

As the night wore on and the cacophony died, a small child's wails could be heard above the crackling of the flames. "Where's daddy?" The small voice asked plaintively. "Shut up and toast your 'croc meat' lad." came the terse answer.

The smoke preceded the growing glow that was the blaze of the now razed village. T'riad watched intensely with exhausted eyes as the noxious vapor undulated around and beyond him. Using all of his training he kept his breath shallow and suppressed coughing.

A hand of time seemed to pass and the glow of the blaze subsided almost out of his perception, he was once again falling back into darkness.

Just as he thought he may be free to move, something dashed away from some spot nearby, making a horrendous splashing noise in the lake behind him. He had not heard the anything approach, but whatever it was, it was now trying to get away fast.